For a week at the beginning of April, senior Andrew Walz and more than 35 fellow students moved out of their residence halls at the University of Mary Washington and tried to ignore the smell of food from campus dining halls. … [Read more...]

Students in the University of Mary Washington’s philanthropy class awarded more than $10,000 in grants to three Fredericksburg-area nonprofit organizations: the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic; Serenity Home of Fredericksburg; and THRIVE, the Healing Center.
Class representative Matt Cronin announced the awards during a check presentation ceremony on Monday, Dec. 3 at the university’s Jepson Alumni Executive Center. The ceremony, streamed live through Google Hangout, was the culmination of the semester-long Economics of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector course taught by Professor of Economics Robert Rycroft.
This year, the class of 26 students received 53 applications for the grants, funded by philanthropist Doris Buffet’s Learning by Giving Foundation.
“We chose the recipients based off of how well the programs they wanted to fund fit in with our mission statement,” said junior Taylor Knight. This year, the philanthropy class raised an additional $500 through bake sales and … [Read more...]

The University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Education has received a grant from the Council for Economic Education and State Farm to fund learning opportunities for area teachers and students. The $2,900 grant, the first external grant for the newly formed center, will provide training workshops for more than a dozen local educators.
Because of the grant, made available through the generous support of State Farm and the Council for Economic Education, UMW’s Center for Economic Education will train 20 Spotsylvania County teachers this summer who will teach the new economics and personal finance course. The course is a new Virginia high school graduation requirement.
The Council for Economic Education is an organization focused on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school through professional development opportunities, educational resources and assessment tools.
The UMW Center for Economic Education was established in … [Read more...]

University of Mary Washington graduates Eric Halsey and Peter Wingrove have been selected to receive U.S. Fulbright grants for 2012-2013. They become the ninth and 10th students, respectively, to receive the prestigious awards in the university’s history.
“The Fulbright committee is extremely proud of Eric and Peter’s accomplishments and wish them well in all their future pursuits,” said Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history. “Mary Washington has now had eight winners in the past five years, and looks forward to several more in the future.”
Eric Halsey
Through the Fulbright, Eric Halsey will study nationalism theory and Balkan history at Sofia University in Bulgaria. He will work with the history department at the university to research the policies of Alexander Stambolinski’s government from 1919 to 1923 and will take intensive Bulgarian language courses.
Halsey, a native of Herndon, Va., currently is a student at Central European University in Budapest and plans to … [Read more...]

Shawn Humphrey, associate professor of economics at the University of Mary Washington, has been invited to attend the upcoming Opportunity Collaboration, a strategic business retreat and networking summit as one of 300 global delegates.
Meeting annually for four days in conjunction with World Poverty Day, Opportunity Collaboration brings nonprofit leaders, for-profit social entrepreneurs, grant-makers and social investors together to “convene, connect and create” with leaders in similar fields, according to its website. The summit focuses on economic justice and poverty elimination. Jonathan Lewis, CEO and entrepreneur, founded Opportunity Collaboration in 2009.
This year, the summit will be held from Sunday, October 14 through Friday, October19 in Ixtapa, Mexico.
“Although I was the recipient of this incredible invitation, I go as a representative of my current and former Mary Washington students and the work we have accomplished over the years,” Humphrey said. “Together we … [Read more...]

University of Mary Washington student Ethan Bottone earned national distinction as a member of a regional team placing second in the Association of American Geographers World Geography Bowl last month in New York City. Perhaps more impressive, he helped claim that win as a sophomore in a competition dominated by graduate students.
The Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers team—made up of mostly graduate students—missed first place by a mere 20 points. In November, Bottone secured a spot on the team after placing third overall in the regional bowl.
“Competing against grad students was really nerve-racking at first, because I was just sitting there thinking, ‘Wow, some of these people have been in college since I started high school',” Bottone said. “But after answering a few questions, I just felt settled down and ready to play, like there wasn't any gap between our educations.”
The geography department isn’t the only opportunity for UMW students … [Read more...]

La Ceiba, a University of Mary Washington-based collegiate microfinance institution, premiered a film of its operations on Tuesday, March 20 as part of its spring fundraising campaign.
Founded in 2008 by Shawn Humphrey, associate professor of economics, La Ceiba provides financial, social and educational support to communities in El Progreso, Honduras, in partnership with Students Helping Honduras and UMW. The film explores UMW students’ recent trip to Honduras.
“Each year, upon our return from Honduras, my students and I confront the difficulty of fully articulating our experience to family and friends,” Humphrey said. “They care about what we do and are curious to know all about it. However, despite what we say, nothing seems to fully capture the texture and emotional impact of Honduras. This film does it for us and we are so excited to share it with the UMW community.”
La Ceiba hopes to raise $5,000 by the end of the semester to fund the four areas of its program: … [Read more...]

Shawn Humphrey, associate professor of economics at the University of Mary Washington, has been chosen to serve as one of 30 commitment mentors for the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) meeting.
The meeting, to be held Friday, March 30 through Sunday, April 1 at The George Washington University in Washington D.C., will bring together approximately 1,000 students from around the world for working sessions, skills sessions and a large-scale service project. As a commitment mentor, Humphrey will facilitate discussions, share resources and build networks among his assigned group of 50 students. He also will help the participants craft their personal commitments to action, plans to address challenges on their campuses, in their local communities or around the world.
The CGIU meeting has five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health. Nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities will … [Read more...]

Students in the University of Mary Washington philanthropy class awarded a total of $10,000 in grants to three Fredericksburg-area nonprofit organizations: the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic, Rappahannock Legal Services and Stafford Junction.
Class representatives Ashley Cameron and Katherine Gibson announced the awards during a check presentation ceremony on Tuesday, December 6 at the university’s Jepson Alumni Executive Center. The ceremony was the culmination of the semester-long Economics of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector course taught by Professor of Economics Robert Rycroft.
The grants are funded by philanthropist Doris Buffet’s Learning by Giving Foundation. Buffett, who attended the ceremony, commended the students for their hard work.
“I’m really proud of you,” said Buffett. “You learned a lot and I bet you had a good time doing it.”
This year, the class of 22 students reviewed 51 applications.
“In choosing the grant recipients, our class followed the lead … [Read more...]